Club runs 11th January 2015

Ride with John F Cat 5 
9 set out from Hertford with a tail wind up through Waterford, Watton, Walkern and then to Halls Green & Weston where it turned into a strong headwind instead. It was then a fight into the wind all the way through Chesfield Park, Graveley, Gt Wymondley into the Four Leaf Clover Café in Hitchin. Return via Charlton including a 'Special Treat' in the form of the ascent of the 'Col de Offleyholes Farm' whose 1 in 7 gradient caused a certain amount of heavy breathing. Suitably recovered we returned to Hertford through Preston, Hitch Wood, Nup End, Oaklands and Bulls Green where we came upon the Cat 6 group mending Bob's puncture. 41 miles. No punctures or mechanicals.
 
2 points each to Sarah W, Wendy, Danny North, Mark T, Lesley Godfrey, Steve Godfrey & John F. 2 guests on the ride - Mary Brady & Olly.

Ride with Stephen M Cat 3
17 riders 44 miles.  It was a wonderful day for a ride this morning. The sun was out the entire morning. There was medium force tail wind on the way up to Clavering lakes and a fairly strong head wind on the way back. Unfortunately there were three punctures before the group made it to Much Hadham so we made the decision to split the group into two groups to pace the amount of orders at the cafe. That seemed to work for once. On the way back we broke up into two groups. There were no incidents on the way back.

Ride with Clive W Cat 1
13 Wheelers started out on the training ride which was split down into a group of 3 faster riders who fancied a fast ride with the remaining 10 electing for a slightly slower paced ride with the coach focussing more on riding as a group and learning the appropriate skills.  Everyone in the slower group had a good time and quickly got the hang of it.  The training will continue next week.

Ride with Mike E Cat 6
Should we all give up cycling now petrol is so cheap? Thirteen thought otherwise and gathered in Hertford for a round trip to Wheathampstead, lured no doubt by an optimistic weather forecast. They enjoyed the ride leader's first dither at a junction in 2015 - "I think it is this way". Not so popular was the climb up to Ayot St Lawrence - the ride leader also needs to do some work on reading contours. The cafe was Charlie's - a prophetic choice after the recent events in Paris. One rider left at this point to throw in some off road riding on the way back. The rest were crowbarred into the cafe to consume well earned repast. Intimate or what! On the route back we took in another Ayot - St Peter. Just south of Datchworth the obligatory category 6 puncture struck. Just as we finished seeing a masterclass in tyre changing from a senior member, the category 5 ride fetched up. We joined forces for a swift downhill category 5.5 thrash back to Hertford.
 
Riders:
 
Bob B
Danny H
Amanda S
Paul W
Martin B
Bruno C
Jo B
Ian S
Martin T
Simon L
Mike E
 
Guest:
 
Gary - on his second ride. welcome back.